Getting some fresh blackberries and starting on making the Christmas Blackberry Vodka. Also got some frozen raspberries that I had picked a few weeks back and have got some raspberry vodka on the go as well

And I have an apple & blackberry crumble in the oven......with a cheeky splash of blackberry vodka in it that I found had managed to escape my clutches during the year!

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and two cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and fills it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “YES”.

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family,children, health, friends, and favorite passions. Things, that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.” he said.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “There is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that areimportant to you...” he told them.

“So... pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Worship with your family. Play with your children. Take your partner out to dinner. Spend time with good friends. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap. Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled and said, “I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

Not today but yesterday: out of the blue, a friend of mine from Romania messaged me in the afternoon that she and her friend were on their way to Berlin, and they were supposed to spend the night in Prague, but they didn't think they were going to make it so do I know any hostels in Budapest?So of course they stayed at my place and we went out for dinner and it was all very nice, I haven't seen her since May, way too long, so I was very happy to have them What wasn't so good is that I was actually supposed to have two of my friends over yesterday night to do some cooking and girly talk, but I had to cancel that: one was very understanding, the other was annoyed because she wanted to be angry with me but knew she had no right to, which might even be worse than if she WAS angry with me